Derry~Londonderry’s Culture Wall

The walls of Derry~Londonderry city are already famous but another one is about to become a work of art

Who, what, where, when…

The Who? Well, that would be you and many, many, many other faces. The What? It’s called the Culture Wall and it’s all to celebrate Derry~Londonderry’s stint as UK City of Culture 2013. The Where? Well, to be precise, this magnificent and unique piece of art will be projected onto the side of Primark on Market Street, which is overlooked by the 400-year-old walls of Derry~Londonderry And the When? 19 December!

So how is this all possible?

A Facebook app allowed fans from across the world to submit their profile picture to be included on The Culture Wall. Submitted online, as many happy snaps as we could muster were collected and curated into a one-off mosaic. These profile pictures were then placed into the hands of Mr Starkie…

A man with a vision

You know when you run through your photos on a computer screen, and secretly wish someone could come along and create a masterpiece with just your photos as the main attraction? Well, on a far, far bigger scale artist/illustrator/graphic designer Domnall Starkie has done just that.

The motivation

Domnall decided to get involved because: “I really liked the positive and optimistic ethos of the whole project and that it was something that the public could feel inclusive of and connected to. Also, to be part of something that salutes and encourages the transformation and regeneration of my city is pretty heartening."

“I believe the UK City of Culture has been wonderful for Derry~Londonderry – it has not only shed light on the amount of talented and creative people who live here, but it has also given them the opportunity and impetus to let the world know how good they are.”

In 2012, Domnall won the Mascot competition for Derry~Londonderry’s UK City of Culture 2013 adventure. He had created lots of large-scale projects before, which he deemed fairly sizeable… “until I was given the dimensions for The Culture Wall. To me, wall art needs to be monumental, especially this piece, so I was delighted when I discovered its location and magnitude.”

The Culture Wall

The wall in question is Primark on Market Street, which is overlooked by the 400 year old walls of Derry~Londonderry. So, how far has he come with his arty experiment?

“The image has already been created, but we’re just waiting until we have collated all the necessary profile pictures before we unveil the finished piece. What I can tell you is that a mock up has already been done and it looks amazing.”

The wall is due to be unveiled on 19 December so we will have to keep guessing until then.

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